WAUKEGAN, Ill. (FOX 56) — A Waukegan man, Cyncere L. Tillman, has been indicted for first-degree murder after prosecutors say he fatally shot Tavontee Fox in a Beach Park neighborhood in February.
Tillman, 24, was indicted Wednesday on three counts of murder, including first-degree murder. He is scheduled to appear for arraignment on March 26.
The fatal incident occurred around 12:10 p.m. on February 9, when the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of shots fired in the 39300 block of Melbourne Court in Beach Park. A 911 caller reported hearing several shots fired and seeing two African American men — aged 20-25 — running from the scene.
Upon arriving, deputies located spent shell casings and shattered glass from a car on the roadway. They also learned that a gunshot victim, later identified as Tavontee Fox, had been dropped off at the Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan. Fox, 24, of Waukegan, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. An autopsy revealed that Fox suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators determined that Fox was a passenger in the car when the shooting took place. Deputies said a home nearby was also struck by gunfire, but no one inside the house was injured.
The investigation revealed that Fox and Tillman had arranged to meet near a home on Melbourne Court. The meeting was supposedly for Fox to purchase a .38 revolver from Tillman. However, during the interaction, an argument broke out, and Tillman pulled out a firearm, firing multiple rounds at Fox and the driver of the car.
Prosecutors said the shooting occurred after one of the suspects asked Fox to show the money he had brought for the firearm transaction. The driver of the car told investigators that neither he nor Fox were armed, and they did not return fire.
Tillman, who was later identified as the shooter, was arrested in February when he arrived at the Lake County Courthouse for a pending case. At the time of the murder, Tillman was out on a $150,000 bond for an August 2023 case in which he was charged with manufacturing or delivering heroin and cocaine. Additionally, Tillman was on parole for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon from a 2020 case.
Tillman remains held in the Lake County Jail after Judge James Simonian denied his pre-trial release.
This indictment comes as part of a thorough investigation into the fatal shooting, which has left the local community in shock.
